


Dosed, Again

by ApplepieandCinnamon



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Cute, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, References to Drugs, accidentally, they literally get high
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApplepieandCinnamon/pseuds/ApplepieandCinnamon
Summary: In retrospect, eating cookies that clearly inebriated strangers gave you as a thanks had not been a good idea.Well, you’re always smarter in hindsight.Sleep deprived Eddie Diaz is a danger to society and ends up drugging both himself and his best friend.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 300





	Dosed, Again

**Author's Note:**

> Since Dosed is my favorite episode and I felt like this fandom deserved more high Buddie.  
> This fic was really fun to write and I’m actually really proud of it. Constructive criticism is welcome!  
> This work was beta’d by the awesome @jyang1219! (Ao3)

Working overtime was nothing that Eddie Diaz wasn’t used to. He picked up extra shifts whenever his and Christophers schedule would allow it, making him the person Bobby asked first when handling the schedules. 

It’s not like LA county pays it’s first responders poorly, he actually has a better salary now than when he was still in the army, it’s just, with all of Christopher's expenses plus LA rent, money tends to fizzle out at the end of each month. Eddie very much prefers taking up a few more weekend shifts if it means not having to worry about how he’s supposed to pay for Christopher's therapy AND groceries.

Between Abuela, Pepa, Carla and occasionally Buck, Eddie also doesn’t have to worry about Christophers whereabouts during those extra shifts. So it’s working out just fine for him. 

The only real downside is when he does double shifts.

It’s not too bad. He’s lucky enough to be working alongside Bobby instead of Reynolds most of the time, meaning he gets great food and there are the bunk rooms he can crash in between alarms. 

Except the last 48 hours didn’t have many of those breaks.

Eddie feels dead on his feet by the time he gets to change back into civilian clothes, going through the motions on autopilot. 

Three hours of sleep in 48 hours can do that to a person. Especially if the rest of those 48 hours were filled with several big fires that left his entire body aching. He was lucky he hadn’t had to actually go along with search and rescue, knowing damn well his brain functions had stopped cooperating after fire number three beyond “hold hose, aim for the fire, don’t blast your colleagues”. 

He halfheartedly listened to Castillo and Marcus talk animatedly about some Girl Scouts they had seen making rounds in the neighborhood around the station while dozing off against his locker between getting each arm in his shirt. Riley joined into the conversation, awfully chipper despite the fact that he had gotten on shift not long after Eddie himself. He declared loudly that the caramel chocolate chip flavor was the superior Girl Scout cookie, being met by enthusiastic agreement from Marcus while Castillo made a sound like he had just insulted his livelihood. It also effectively made Eddie jerk awake again. 

The ensuing argument about whether thin mints or caramel chocolate chip won faded into the background as Eddie shouldered his bag and made his way out of the station.

The cold night air gave him a little shock to the system, at least taking him out of his dosing state. He was decidedly too tired to drive, instead settling for ordering an Uber. 

It was then that a couple of girls rounded the corner, laughing as they made their way towards him. When they spotted him on the sidewalk, one of the girls jogged up to him. 

“Hey, sorry, do you know which way the Denny’s is?” She asked, grinning up at him while swaying lightly on their feet. Eddie had half a brain to acknowledge that her style was rather interesting. 

She was mostly clad in black just like her friends, though she sported several patches stitched to her jean jacket, showing logos of what Eddie faintly recognized as different civil rights movements. Her hair was in a split dye, pink and red, bouncing in strong curls around her slender face. 

Eddie squinted for a moment as he willed his brain to start up again before he nodded, turning to point down the road to his right. “It’s like five blocks down the road and then to your left.” He provided, turning back towards the girl, whose friends had now reached him as well. 

“Thanks!” The first girl exclaimed, turning to her friends before repeating what he had just said, even though Eddie was pretty sure they must have heard.

“That’s so faaar.” One of the girls whined as she leaned heavily against one of the other girls. Her blue hair fell into her face as her head connected with her friends shoulder, hiding her from view. 

Eddie blinked a few times, took the girls standing next to him in and decided that letting them walk that far at night was not something he wanted part of. Blame his damn paternal instincts. 

“I’ve got an Uber coming, I’m going that direction anyway, we could make a pit stop to drop you off.” He offered. The girls looked at each other, then back at him, back at each other, then at his LAFD bag and finally back at each other before seemingly deciding he wouldn’t kidnap them and nodding. 

“That would be great!” Blue hair exclaimed, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug that Eddie definitely wasn’t expecting. Before he could react she had already pulled away, smiling dopily at him. “You’re my hero, ridiculously attractive firefighter dude.” 

Her friends laughed loudly, pulling her further away from him and back into their arms. “Melissa, you’re gay. Remember?” 

Melissa made a face like she just had a revelation and then grinned at her friends. “Right. I love boobs.” She agreed before turning back to Eddie. “No offense.”

Eddie only laughed, his tired, half offline brain lamely providing that a) she wouldn’t have been his type OR age range anyway and b) he was already helplessly gone for a certain tall blond fireman. 

The Uber pulled up a few moments later and they all piled into the car, Eddie quickly explained the situation to the driver. The woman only smiled at him, waving off his concerns that the pit stop hadn’t been planned. 

They reached the Denny’s quickly, the roads being blessedly empty at night. Eddie was once again enveloped in hugs from the girls, all while being declared a hero. It was a bit of an awkward angle since he sat in the front of the car while the girls hugged him from the backseat. 

They were getting out when red and pink hair leaned forward, dropping a box in his lap that held several chocolate chip cookies. He turned to look at her with a questioning glance and she only laughed. “As a thanks. We wouldn’t have eaten them all anyway.” 

Eddie looked down at the box, then back at the girl. “Are you Girl Scouts?” His brain had apparently started to go offline again somewhere on the drive. She only laughed before giving him a pat on the shoulder and getting out, following her friends into the restaurant.

The rest of the ride was quiet and when Eddie finally got home, he dropped the box on the coffee table and went straight to bed, forgetting about the cookies entirely. 

He forgot about them up until Buck came over the next day. He had slept until noon, choosing to lounge in bed until he had to get ready for when they had planned to watch the game together. Christopher was still away at summer camp, giving him some much needed kid-free time. He loved his son but sometimes he just needed an evening without Disney movies. Plus, his own son seemed to think he needed some off time himself.

Buck let himself in, skipping over to where Eddie was filling a bowl with popcorn in the kitchen. He was grinning widely, coming to a stop next to his best friend, brushing their shoulders together. 

“What has you in such a good mood?” Eddie teased softly, glancing over at Buck before getting them beer from the fridge. 

“I got some good news.” Buck gave back, snatching himself some popcorn before trying and failing to throw it and catch it with his mouth. 

“You gonna tell me the news, too?” Eddie asked as he tried catching the stray popcorn that didn’t end up in Buck’s mouth, making a mental note to vacuum before Chris came home.

“I’m not sure that I’m allowed to.” The blond mused, face furrowing up adorably, “It’s kind of a secret.”

Eddie only raised his eyebrows at him.

Buck was silent for a moment, biting his lip as a grin spread over his face. (Eddie was NOT distracted by that, thank you very much.) 

Then, finally, “I’m gonna be an uncle!”

Eddie spluttered. “Maddie is pregnant?”

“Don’t tell her that I told you!” 

“That’s great! I’m happy for them!” Eddie passed over a beer bottle, clinking them together before taking a sip. “Chris is gonna be jealous that you’ll soon gush over a different kid.” 

Buck’s face fell.

“Do you really think so?” The amount of adorable worry lines on the man’s face should be illegal.

Eddie snorted, giving Buck’s cheek a gentle pat. “I was joking. Don’t worry.” He tilted his head in thought. “Unless I have to worry about losing my co-parent?” 

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.” Buck grinned, brushing past him as he headed for the living room. 

Eddie smiled to himself as he turned back towards the kitchen counter, rifling through one of the drawers before pulling out the familiar red and white menu for their regular pizza place. 

“Same as always?” He called over his shoulder, earning a loud hum in agreement before Buck spoke up, undoubtedly around a mouthful of popcorn. 

“You ‘now th’ plath ‘as ‘n app, ‘ight?”

Eddie threw a glance at his best friend, sporting what Buck had so fondly named “The Disapproving-Diaz-Eyebrow” (apparently it ran in the family), making Buck choke on the popcorn as he laughed to himself. It was a routine between them. Eddie would dig out the menushe collected from the different places they usually ordered from and Buck would call him an old man for not using the more modern method. It was one of the many routines the two had. Inside jokes that no one else got. It made Eddie feel soft. Just like the view of Buck hacking out popcorn with red cheeks and laughter in his eyes was. If his gaze lingered longer than appropriate, neither commented on it. Once Buck was no longer choking, the two merely exchanged a grin that seemed to hold more words and promises than should be possible, before Buck’s attention was caught by something else. 

“Oh hell yeah, are those chocolate chip cookies?!” He exclaimed, snatching the box from the coffee table and tearing off the lid with one swift motion. “Did Chris and Carla bake again?” Buck had already stuffed one cookie in his mouth, which, to anyone else, would probably have seemed rather impolite without asking, but Buck wasn’t a guest in this house. Eddie couldn’t remember the last time Buck had asked permission for anything. 

Buck wolfed down the cookie as Eddie tried recalling where those had come from, which was a little difficult considering how sleepy he had been yesterday. “Girl Scouts.” His brain provided after a moment. The blond nodded to himself at that, like Eddie had just said something particularly wise, before he held out the box to the man. 

Eddie took a cookie with one hand as he dialed the pizza place with the other, busying himself with ordering as Buck vanished into Eddie’s bedroom to get himself more comfortable clothes. 

Soon, the two were settled on the couch, Buck now clad in one of Eddie’s sweatpants, the game acting as more of a background noise rather than the main focus.

“So how’s Chris doing at camp?” Buck stretched out his legs over Eddie’s lap, the man not even thinking twice about resting his hands on the man’s calves, thumbs rubbing slow circles into the muscle. Just another routine. 

“I’m honestly getting the feeling he won’t come back without some screaming and kicking involved.” He chuckled, eyes trailing to the game for a moment to check the score in an attempt to not get lost in the soft look in Buck’s eyes as he laughed. “He loves it, keeps gushing over the food. Wants to be a chef now. Maybe I should ask Bobby for some lessons for him” 

“As long as he doesn’t get his talent from you.” Buck teased, earning himself a shove. “Hey! Look at it like this, if he’s got talent, at least one Diaz can cook without setting the kitchen on fire.” 

“That was one time.”

“You’re a firefighter, Eds, we usually do the putting out of the fire, not the-“ Buck was interrupted by Eddie shoving a cookie into his mouth. “Shut up and eat.” 

If you asked Eddie later, he’d tell you that it was entirely Buck’s fault that they emptied the box of cookies. He’d also point the finger at Buck for not noticing the rather special ingredient. 

Now though, Eddie was feeling warm and giddy, the comfortable banter between him and Buck alongside their easy laughter completely drowning out the shouts and cheers from the tv.

Eddie really liked the way Buck’s eyes crinkled when he laughed. And the way he threw his head back, helplessly hitting his own chest or thighs with his hands as if that would force the laughter out and some air in. He liked watching him go all red from the lack of oxygen, and the way laughter drifted off into chuckles before turning into bellowing laughter yet again when he chanced a look at Eddie, pulling the other man right along with him.

His fingers were still rubbing circles into the man’s calf, fingers dipping beneath his pants to run over hairy and slightly scarred skin as they both sunk deeper into the soft pillows of the couch. It was exhilarating while simultaneously so damn calming. It made him laugh again. Buck joined in without knowing what they were laughing about. Because he was always with Eddie in everything. Hell, maybe he got the joke. It wouldn’t be the first time they communicated without speaking. 

Eddie briefly wondered if soulmates were real. He had never felt this way with Shannon. He had loved her, really did, but when it came down to communication, they were never on the same wavelength. With Buck, it came easy. Everything came easy with Buck. This feeling of ease, it had to mean something, that couldn’t just be normal. If soulmates were real, Eddie settled, Buck was definitely his. Abuela probably believed in soulmates. She believed in a lot of things. Lots of them magic. Or something. Maybe he should call her. Ask her if soulmates were real. She would know. She always does.

“Abuela knows a lot about magic.” He felt the need to share. Buck piped up from where he had been engrossed in staring at the ceiling lamp like it held all of life’s answers. Maybe it did. Buck was smart. Eddie looked up at the lamp as well. Just looked bright to him. Maybe he should ask Abuela about ceiling lamps too. 

“Like card tricks?” Buck asked, eyes wide with awe. He made some vague hand gestures that made Eddie feel dizzy. ”I like card tricks. Do you have cards?” 

Eddie shook his head with gusto. Dizzy again. Bad idea. “Nah. Like...soulmates.”

Buck nodded empathically. He stopped. Stared at Eddie for a moment. Then spoke up. “What?”

“Soulmates. Y’know,” it was Eddie’s turn to make vague hand gestures. “Loooove.” He dragged the word out. 

“So no card tricks.” 

“No.”

Buck nodded again. “Love magic...like...like in the thing.” He swatted at his own forehead. Eddie only looked confused. “The thing with the...the thing. Brooms.” Eddie blinked, then turned towards the half empty popcorn bowl. 

“How do they make popcorn?” He let his head roll towards his best friend again. 

“They pop it.” Buck provided with a proud nod. “With heat.”

“But why isn’t...corn on the cob...popcorn?” 

Buck didn’t look proud anymore. 

Both men stared at the bowl in silent confusion. 

“We should try boiling popcorn.” Eddie said at the same time as Buck said, “Harry Potter.” 

They turned to look at each other. 

“What?”

“That’s the thing with the brooms and love magic. Harry Potter.” Buck explained. Then turned to stare at the bowl again. 

“Ah.” Eddie nodded to himself, also turning towards the bowl again. What were they talking about again?

“They make- make popcorn out of the kennels though.” He finally said. “So that’s why normal corn isn’t popcorn.”

“You’re really smart.” Eddie was grinning. His cheeks hurt a little from it. 

“I don’t even like corn.” Buck whined. “It’s so...yellow.”

“Yeah. Yellow.” Eddie agreed, eyes trailing to the legs still in his lap. “Your legs are really pretty.” He poked at the soft skin, squinting his eyes to look closer at the soft blond hairs. 

“Are they yellow?” Buck sat up with a panicked shout, one hand shooting out to hold unto Eddie’s shoulder, staring at his own legs in shock.

“Nah. They’re...pink. But not super pink. Like that.” His fingers found the birthmark that was now blessedly within reach as Buck let out a relieved sigh. 

Their eyes met, Eddie’s thumb resting at the edge of the other man’s eyebrow, their faces mere inches from one another. 

The doorbell rang. 

“Is that Christopher?” Buck swung his legs off the couch, striding towards the door without a second glance at where Eddie still hovered with his hand in the air. “Christopher should be home. Did he take your car? He’s so small! Too small to drive!” He yanked the door open. “You’re too small to drive!”

The pizza delivery guy stared at him in silence for a moment, seemingly regretting all his life choices, before he let out a breath. “That’ll be $18.75.”

“Pizza!” Eddie yelled and smacked his own forehead, a little too hard, because, ouch. 

It took Eddie a considerate amount of time to get off the couch, gravity seemingly working against him as he patted his pants down for his wallet. It took him even longer to realize that his wallet was in fact lying on the coffee table and not lodged in his pocketless sweatpants. 

By the time he had made it to the front door, Buck was already deeply engaged in a conversation with the now amused looking pizza delivery guy. 

“Did you know that a whale’s penis is called a dork?” Buck was leaning heavily on the doorframe, a dopey smile on his face. 

The delivery guy chuckled before shaking his head. “Nah man. I didn’t.” 

“Well, now you do.” Eddie handed over the money - probably with a way too generous tip- as Buck laughed. 

Eddie took the pizza from the guys hands, immediately moving to smother himself in the cardboard box, letting out a loud groan at the smell of cheese and bacon. Heaven, absolute heaven. They should build statues for cheese-bacon pizzas. Temples. Eddie, despite his upbringing, wasn’t very religious but he’d convert to a pizza religion in seconds. Chris would too. Chris loved pizza. But he liked his pizza with pineapple. Maybe Eddie did make a mistake raising him- 

When he lifted his head again, Buck had apparently seen the empty, outstretched arms of the delivery guy as a clear invite, having pulled the man into a crushing hug. Which looked quite awkward, seeing as Buck was at least a head taller than him.

Eddie wasn’t jealous. Maybe a little. Buck’s hug just looked so soft. 

They were, usually. His best friend was tactile after all, very keen on physical affection. Eddie always got a hug for hello and goodbye. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he kind of preened under his attention as well as the fact that usually, their hugs were the longest. 

Eddie had had many great experiences. Like Chris’ birth for example, or well, his birth once everything had calmed down. He was pretty sure the pizza came close to that.

The second the door had closed, they were all over it. 

“This is heaven.” Buck moaned around a particularly cheesy bite, making Eddie look up from his own piece. If the man briefly wished to trade places with a pizza, then that was his own business. 

“They should make a pizza religion.” Eddie voiced his thought from earlier, being met by an enthusiastic nod from his friend. 

The pizza didn’t last long between the two of them and they ended up sunken into the couch, shoulders pressed together and one of Chris cartoons playing on the TV. They were tired now, the giddiness from earlier fading in favor of a heavy feeling that seemed to press them into the pillows and hold them there.

Eddie’s head was resting against Buck’s, his hand absently poking at the man’s thigh. This was nice. Eddie felt light and fluffy, like nothing could ever make him unhappy again, like in this moment here, with Buck, touching, some weirdly drawn animal holding a speech about friendship in the background, was where he truly belonged. And he does. This was his happy place. Buck was his happy place. 

He shifted from where he sat to get a better view of his friend’s profile. The hard line of his jaw, the soft stubble from where he hadn’t shaved since their last shift, blue eyes twinkling with amusement, holding Eddie captive for a moment, the strong nose, his full lips that tempted him every time they leaned too close, the birthmark with its stark contrast to his pale skin. 

Eddie wasn’t sure when thought had turned into action, but his hand had found his friend’s face, gentle fingers running over scratchy stubble, tracing the lines of his face. Buck had turned to look at him in return, silent as he let Eddie touch him, pupils dilated so far that there was only a thin ring of blue left. He huffed a laugh at the thought that Buck now looked like one of those atrocious stuffed animals with huge eyes that Christopher’s friends liked. 

His touch lingered at the birthmark, mirroring their position from earlier, only this time there was no doorbell to interrupt. He traced its form, watching as Buck closed his eyes. Next, his fingers trailed over the bridge of his nose, traced stubbly cheekbones and finally rested on slightly chapped lips. 

A thought struck him. 

“You’re like pizza.” Eddie marveled, eyes locked on Buck’s lips. His face only furrowed up in confusion at that. “You make me happy,” Eddie clarified. 

Buck blinked and their eyes met. 

The light was catching his friend just right, shining through his hair and framing his face, making him look all soft around the edges. Buck made Eddie feel soft around the edges too. 

It was Buck’s turn to raise his hand, calloused fingers running through the dark strands of Eddie’s hair. “You’re growing it out again,” he mused quietly, “I like it.” 

“I like you.” Eddie answered easily, letting their noses bump together as he leaned closer. His eyes slipped shut, basking in the warmth prickling on his skin where Buck’s breath was hitting him.

“Can’t recommend that.” His friend chuckled. 

There was a gentle tug at the hair in the nape of his neck, urging him even closer. Their lips were brushing now and normally, Eddie was sure he’d panic if he ever came this close to Buck, his heart would just give out, hand in its resignation and go looking for someone who made more reasonable decisions that didn’t involve falling in love with their best friend. Now though, his nerves were calm, his skin buzzing with anticipation at the same time.

Eddie let out a breath. A heartbeat passed. Their lips met. 

Kissing Buck...he had pictured it often enough. Long and sweet, desperate and hard, hot and deep, shaky and terrified. He had thought about many different scenarios, had longed for this ever since he realized how deeply gone he was for his best friend. After almost dying. Which was only solidified by almost losing Buck to his stubbornness yet again not too soon after. 

Kissing him had since invaded his dreams and fantasies in many quiet moments. Like when Buck was being his usual thoughtful self, doing so much to make him and Christopher happy. When they got out of a collapsing house last minute, soot covering their faces and adrenaline coursing through their veins. When Buck was shamelessly flirting with him, wearing that cocky grin, strutting towards him with a hand on his belt, or his recurring nightmare. Buck going down that hole with him a month ago, tons of earth and metal coming down on top of them, only one of them making it out alive. 

None of his fantasies could live up to the real thing. 

It wasn’t quite like in the movies. There were no fireworks. Instead, Eddie felt his body light up with goosebumps, a gentle warmth spreading all through him, making him dizzy with it. He was riding a high of emotions, his hands not able to decide between framing the man's perfect face or burying into soft, barely noticeable curls. 

Oh how he longed to mess up the gelled look, make Buck look like when he came tumbling from the bunk rooms during an alarm or when he emerged from the couch in the mornings he stayed over. 

The elation Eddie felt when he realized he very well  _ could _ mess up Buck’s hair because he was currently  _ kissing _ him was unmeasurable.

Buck made an appreciative noise when Eddie’s hands slipped into his hair. One of his hands pressed against his chest, pushing him deeper into the couch cushions and for a moment Eddie thought he was about to break the kiss before Buck threw a leg over his lap and moved to straddle him- and that-  _ ok. Wow. That was nice. Veeery nice _ . 

Buck was a good kisser. He moved his mouth expertly against Eddie’s, slow, lazy, pausing only to to bite at his lip. It felt intoxicating. 

While one of his hands still worked on the whole “bed head Buck” plan, the other had gripped onto the man's side, stroking lazily, gripping onto his shirt. 

They only pulled apart when they both realized that breathing was unfortunately not optional. 

“You kissed me.” Buck stated breathlessly. 

Eddie frowned. “You kissed  _ me _ .”

“We kissed each other.” Buck let out a laugh. Eddie wasn’t listening. Him still being in his lap was rather distracting.

“Mhm.” Eddie only gave back, still hazy. He also was not so subtly admiring his work, meaning, staring at Buck’s hair now all mused and standing up in different directions. “Can we do it again?”

The only answer he got was Buck’s lips returning to his, which Eddie, on his part, was completely fine with.

At some point, they left behind the living room, the still playing TV and the empty pizza box forgotten, in favor of a lazy make out session in Eddie’s bedroom. Any chance that it would turn into something more was quickly denounced when Buck kept dozing off, the kisses turning rare and far inbetween until Eddie found himself asleep, tangled in Buck’s arms. 

When he woke up, he felt like someone had stuffed cotton into his mouth. He let out a prolonged groan, one arm thrown over his face to shield his eyes from the insistent light creeping through the blinds, the other blindly grabbing for the water bottle he usually kept on the nightstand. 

Several things became apparent.

The water bottle was gone, he had a killer headache, there was definitely someone pillowing their head on his chest and a pair of cold feet was pressing into his calf. 

Eddie slowly lifted his arm from his face, not quite ready to face whatever had gone down yesterday. 

Except he knew what went down yesterday. Mostly, anyway.

In retrospect, eating cookies that clearly inebriated strangers gave you as a thanks had  **not** been a good idea. 

Well, you’re always smarter in hindsight.

“Did we seriously get dosed..again?” Buck spoke up groggily from where he was still pressed into his side, one hand coming up to scrub at his own face. 

“Shouldn’t we have noticed yesterday? I mean the come down is the same.” 

Buck shrugged. “People who get drugged don’t usually notice they’re getting drugged.”

“I can’t believe I’ve done LSD twice now.” Eddie groaned and Buck only huffed.

“I have also, definitely, only done LSD  _ twice _ .” He chuckled, earning himself a light slap to the head. Which was only really a pat, Eddie figured the hangover was punishment enough. “Also not sure if it was even LSD. Could have been weed.”

“Should we go to the hospital?”

“I’d rather not. You try explaining that.”

They both laughed lightly before they fell silent for a while, the only noise being the birds chirping outside and the occasional car passing the house.

“So are we going to talk about it?” Buck eventually broke the silence.

“About what?”

“The elephant in the room.” Buck’s voice was cautious, fingers fidgeting with Eddie’s shirt.

Eddie let his own hand slip back into those, now familiar curls, stroking them out of Buck’s face. “Is there much to talk about?”

Buck snorted, it sounded humorless. He sat up then, effectively breaking the moment and their little cocoon in which they didn’t have to think or talk. Buck had always been the talker of the two of them.

“I don’t go around kissing all my friends, you know. Or have you ever seen me getting it on with Chim?”

Eddie let out a disgusted groan. “No, but that image will be burnt into my brain for a while now, so thanks for that.” 

Buck shook his head at him, trying to cover up the resulting wince before throwing the blanket off of himself and getting up.

“Hey, wait-“ Eddie caught him at the wrist, pulling him back on the bed as he sat up himself. 

“Look, I’m not much of a...talking person. You know that. I figured- I figured this thing between us has been building up for a while now so- so there wouldn’t be that much to talk about. Because we knew where we were heading.” Eddie paused in thought. “Except if you don’t want this. Which- which would be fine. I get it, I mean I’m not- I come with baggage and- Chris, so like- if you don’t-“ 

Eddie had never been more grateful to be cut off by Buck as when the man slapped a hand over his mouth, effectively stopping his clumsy rant short. He didn’t much like the way Buck was looking at him though. That, no bullshit, or rather “I’m done with your bullshit” expression. 

“You’re being stupid.” Eddie made a noise of protest against the palm of Buck’s hand. “No, you shut up for a moment. You’re being really stupid.”

Buck took a deep breath, letting it out carefully as he pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand. He looked way too serious like this. It was kinda hot. But he was getting off track.

“You have baggage, I know that. But Chris isn’t baggage for one. That kid is absolutely amazing and probably has more brain cells than the two of us combined- don’t look at me like that, it’s true- not to talk about the fact that you’re right, this has been building between us for a while now, I’m like, head over heels for you, the thing that I’m worried about is that our first kiss happened while we were both drugged. Buck 1.0 might have been a bad person but I’m kinda priding myself on having been and still being a decent human being, as in, knowing when people can consent to doing stuff and when they can’t, so me kissing you while you were clearly- ew- did- did you just lick my hand?” Buck pulled his hand away with a shout, giving Eddie an incredulous look. The man only smirked back at him.

“It was the only way to get you to shut up. You need to stop worrying. You didn’t take advantage of me, okay? We were both drugged. Plus, I was the one who started the whole thing by fondling-“ “You didn’t fond-“ “Shut up. If you hadn’t kissed me, I would have kissed you. Yesterday might not have been consent from the rule book but nothing bad happened, we’re not gonna do it again, I mean the drugged part, so stop trying to frame yourself as a bad person because if I’m not allowed to, then you’re not allowed to either.” He reached for Buck’s hand resting between them, interlacing their fingers gently. “So. If you’ll have me, how about we do some more fully consensual kissing and then go on a date? Or well, go on a date when my brain doesn’t feel like cotton candy anymore-“

Buck laughed, cheeks tinted a pretty red as he pulled Eddie closer, framing his face with his hands as he placed a kiss on his lips. Eddie pulled a face. “Morning breath.” “Oh shut up.” And if Buck’s lips helped him shut up, well, he could handle a little morning breath.


End file.
